News Releases - Grants

EPA Awards 45 Universities with Grants to Help Design Sustainable Technologies - University of Delaware

University of Delaware students to design project for the environment, economy

PHILADELPHIA (Nov. 18, 2011) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded the People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Phase I grants for the 2011-2012 school year. A team from University of Delaware in Newark is one of 45 teams of college and university students across the country that won funding to design creative solutions to sustainability challenges in the developed and developing world.

The University of Delaware students will use their $15,000 P3 grant to design and develop apparel and accessories using natural, renewable, and locally grown materials such as wool, mohair, chicken feather, and natural dyes. The apparel products will be made to appeal to the University’s students. The team will produce most of the materials in the University’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies.

Their project aims to show how the use of locally grown materials for manufacturing apparel can reduce environmental pollution, improve the health of industry employees and nearby community residents, and serve as a viable income source for local farmers.

“EPA’s P3 grant to University of Delaware’s team of students represents an investment in our nation’s young innovators, the health of our communities, and the planet’s health,” said Shawn M. Garvin, EPA mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator. “I commend the students for their enthusiasm in designing a sustainable solution that has potential to support the growth and stability of our nation’s future.”

EPA’s P3 grants challenge students, working together on interdisciplinary teams, to design and build sustainable technologies that improve quality of life, promote economic development and protect the environment. The annual competition begins with Phase I grant awards of $15,000 to student teams that then work on projects in a range of categories including water, energy, agriculture, built environment, and materials and chemicals.

After working on the project for eight months, the teams will bring their designs to the 8th Annual National Sustainable Design Expo on the National Mall in Washington, D.C around Earth Day. At the expo, the projects will be judged by a panel of experts. A few teams will be selected for Phase II grants up to $90,000 for students to improve their designs, implement them in the field, or move them to the marketplace.

Applications are being accepted through Dec. 22, 2011, for the next round of Phase I awards for the 2012-2013 school year. In addition to the categories above, teams can also propose innovative ideas for green infrastructure and designing clean cookstoves.
More information on the P3 Phase I grant awards: http://www.epa.gov/ncer/p3/current.